The Fifteenth Birthday

Chapter 1- Pools and Shattered Dreams

I woke up on a cool September morning; the crust in my eyes, as my vision goes from blurry to fine. I yawn as I sit up and wipe the crust from my eyes. I look at the clock on my dresser to find it is 11:47 a.m.. I smell the aroma of pancakes cooking downstairs as I get up and put my clothes on. I open the door to the hallway and walk down the stairs to see my mother's smiling face as she comes over to me and hands me a plate of fresh, hot pancakes, and puts a party hat on my head. She kisses me on the forehead as she tells me, "Happy Eighth Birthday Timmy!" The joy rushes to my face as I shove one of her mini pancakes into my mouth eagerly. With a pancake in my mouth I mumble, "So what did you guys get me?" My dad glares at me as he tells me not to eat with my mouth full, "Sorry," I say as I finish swallowing my food, "So what did you get me?!" I say eagerly anticipating the answer. "Should we tell him Bill?" my mother asks quizzically at my father. "Sure why not. Son we got you a..." my father says as he pulls open the curtains to reveal a swimming pool they had installed into the floor of the backyard. He then tells me that my friends would be here arriving in thirty minutes. So I reluctantly wait for my friends to start arriving. Then thirty minutes later when they arrive, we all put on our trunks and hop into the pool and play around in the pool. After an hour of playing in the pool we get out and I get my gifts from my friends and eat some cake my mom made earlier that day. Later that day when my friends had all left, and I was supposed to be in bed, I walked down my stairs to hear my mom and dad talking. I listen in to hear my mom say, "Just seven more years Bill." "I know honey. I know." My dad replies. " Seven more years till what?" I ask quizzically. My parents look at me stunned by the thought of me hearing their conversation. "Umm" my mother stammers looking for the words, my father then says, " We have to tell him June." talking towards my mom. She looks at me with tears in her eyes as she tells me that in seven years when I'm fifteen that I will get a tattoo with the number fifteen embossed into my cheek and from that day until one year later on my sixteenth birthday I would be wanted and if anyone not fifteen or eight or below will be ordered by law to kill me, and even some fifteen year olds will try to kill you. The thought makes my mind weigh heavy with the new information. " Then Why Listen to The Law if it Means You Have to Kill Me?!?" I ask as angrily as I can. "Because if we don't then they must execute us!" My mom says back at me with sadness in her voice. " Why are you sad?" I ask madly, " I'm the one who might Die!". " It's because I don't want another child to die at fifteen!" My mom yells at me. " What?" I ask with a thought of wonder. "Son we had a son named Jeremy he didn't. Didn't come home." my dad says as his face darkens. "Um. I'm so sorry... I, I didn't know." I say. " Just... go to bed." my mom says as she kisses me on the cheek. I head up to bed with the thought in my head of death and the thought of how I'm going to live.